AE memory lock. Why oh WHY did Pentax leave this off almost all their auto exposure cameras? I think the very late P30 has it, but then it is DX code only with no override, which is worse.
This lack is the one thing that prevents my LX from being the absolutely superb machine it should be and otherwise is. Even my Ricoh XR-7 has it. I have to get around to replacing the light seals on that camera. It's a lightly built consumer grade mainly plastic camera but it's so well thought out I just love shooting with it.
I never shoot on auto so I don't miss this too much, I can't recall ever using it, I don't even know how to set it on my camera lol
~Stone
The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic
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Well with my cameras that have it, it's more like a quick setting of the meter. I compose so as to meter the area I want to meter, tap the memory lock, and re-compose. Very fast, faster than twisting dials to light LEDs or match needles, with the same result.
If you don't want to ever use it don't get a camera that has it and try it then - it's addictive. I can shoot ALMOST as fast with my all manual MX or using my LX in manual mode - almost.
EDIT: Read your signature. I think the AE1 has it and I'm (almost) sure a 1V would.
Usually it only "locks" for one exposure so even if you decided not to take that one and didn't know how to unlock it you'd only lose one frame. On my XR-7 it's a handily positioned button on the upper left side near the lens mount. Push once to lock, again to unlock. Many cameras use a partial press of the shutter release. Press down half way and the indicator blinks to indicate lock, recompose and press the rest of the way to take the shot, or release to unlock. My 645 Pro AE Prism finder uses this method. It works well most of the time and is intuitive, but I prefer the separate button. Every now and then I push too far in trying to use the lock and shoot an ill-composed but well metered frame.
Seems a shame to me to have a 1V and only use it on manual. Don't get me wrong, I love manual cameras. I have an MX, a K1000, and Yashicamat 124 and a 4x5 field camera. But if I never wanted to use automation I'd just stick to all manual cameras and save the weight, complexity and need for batteries.
Exposure override in small cameras. Being a "simple" camera doesn't mean being a "stupid" camera.
The only real drawback of my beloved Yashica T3 is lack of exposure compensation of any kind (not even a stupid +1.5 EV button).
Lack of mirror lock-up on certain cameras, like the Minolta X-700, which would certainly deserve it.
Lack of a spare battery compartment on the shoulder strap. That should be mandatory on every electronic camera. It's like omitting the fuel reserve indicator in a car. There should be a law about it.
Lack of an ocular shutter on the shoulder strap (again extremely cheap and very useful).
Lack of use of proper light traps instead of felt gaskets. Felt will fail sooner or later. Light traps never fail and never require maintenance.
"Quick-load" mechanisms. They are fast, reliable, and make safer to load the camera while standing. With the traditional method I personally find that I have to sit somewhere and put the camera on my thighs as I feel I might drop it by mistake while performing the film load.
What is an optical shutter?
~Stone
Ocular, not optical. Ocular = eyepiece; a small piece to go over the eyepiece of an automatic camera (when it isn't covered by your eye) to prevent light getting in and causing incorrect metering.
Some cameras have a shutter that can be moved in and out of place via a small lever on the camera body. The AE Prism finder on my Mamiya 645 Pro has this. The only use I'm aware of for it, though, is when using automatic exposure shooting off a tripod, and on a tripod I use manual settings almost exclusively. I don't think I've ever actually used one of these, of either type. Just goes to show - one person's "I have them but have never used them" is another's "must have."
Ocular, not optical. Ocular = eyepiece; a small piece to go over the eyepiece of an automatic camera (when it isn't covered by your eye, say on a tripod) to prevent light getting in and causing incorrect metering.
The "newest" film cameras from Canon/Nikon from the 1998-2005ish timeframe have all of these.
-Diopter
-Shutter lock (which I agree is super useful if you have a camera bag or walk around all day with a camera on your shoulder, inevitably you hit that darn button)
-film top holder (they don't often have that but mostly because the camera reads the DX codes and sets the ISO for you. [I agree still would be nice to have it]).
-PC socket
-30 second long exposure
-Mirror lockup
I wish they had a programmable super long exposures like up to an hour, 30 seconds is not enough sometimes. (Still offer shutter release cable but prefer it in camera).
But more than anything... Time lapse... I don't for the life of me understand why they can't have an internal timer that allows for you to take an image every 10 minutes or 30 minutes or every hour, it would be easy to program. Drives me nuts....
~Stone
The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic
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I have one Roger that came with my Canon EF, they actually had 2 slots on them to fasten them on the camera strap, most consumers who bought the cameras they were supplied with didn't know what they were for in those days, and threw them away .Yeah, I've seen those. They're such utterly losable little things, with what seems to me minimal utility, that I always wondered why they bothered. But Fabrizio considers them important, and of course there's no disagreement with what someone else finds useful. Just goes to show about tastes and styles.
Eyepiece shutter - little plastic/rubber widget... I've got 'em, I've never used 'em. If I'm going to take the time and trouble to set my camera up on a tripod and attach a remote cable, I'm also going to set it to Manual and use an external light meter.
I almost died laughing when I first saw the hot shoe cover/eyepiece blind/battery door lever that came with a friend's A-1. He broke one of the two tiny tabs that hold it onto the eyepiece, rendering it unusable, so he threw it away. A few years later he was wondering why they made the battery door so hard to get open.
The eyepiece cover has nothing to do with metering, it's that with long exposures, you sometimes have light leak THROUGH THE VIEWFINDER so you need to cover it so that when the mirror is up and shutter is open, the film doesn't get unwanted stray light from the viewfinder.
~Stone
The Noteworthy Ones - Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1 / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic
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